A crisis without any readymade solution
By Taslim Ahammad
This has been named one of the
fastest-growing refugee crises in the world and yet not everyone is aware of
what, exactly, is happening and what to do for Rohingya-refugee-crisis. And the
world communities watching silently a massive humanitarian crisis unfold in
Myanmar's Rakhine, at the north-eastern edge of the Bay of Bengal.
The Rohingyas have faced decades of
discrimination and repression under successive Myanmar government. Forcefully
denied citizenship under the 1982 citizenship law, they are one of the largest
stateless populations in the world. Restrictions on movement and lack of access
to basic healthcare have led to dire humanitarian conditions for those
displaced by earlier waves of violence in 2012 and 2016.
More than 1.3 million refugees were targets
of violent attacks in Rakhine State in Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands of
terrified Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh and set up camps in the city of
Cox's Bazar crossing the border into neighbouring Bangladesh. About sixty per
cent of them are children and they all spoke of witnessing unspeakable
violence.
Rohingya refugees began flooding onto the
beaches and paddy fields of southern Bangladesh in August 2017; it was the children
who caught many people's attention -- almost 60 per cent of the refugees. Many
have arrived injured and deeply traumatized by their experiences, with just the
clothes on their backs.
Older children and adolescents who are
deprived of opportunities to learn or make a living are at real risk of
becoming a lost generation, ready prey to traffickers and those who would
exploit them for political or other ends. Girls and women are at particular
risk of sexual and other gender-based violence in this situation, including
being forced into early marriage and being left out of school as parents keep
them at home.
For daily need Rohingyas returning to their
tents with firewood on their heads is a common sight in Ukhiya. Having no other
option, they are now razing trees and forests, even four to five kilometres off
their tents, to collect the fuel. Hence, a huge area of the Ukhiya reserve
forest had already been razed to the ground.
Around 4,000 acres of forestland in and
around Kutupalong and Balukhali of Ukhiya has been destroyed to build makeshift
home and collect firewood until this March, said Mohammad Ali Kabir, Divisional
Forest Officer of Cox's Bazar.
The report of a recent survey titled
"Environmental Impact of Rohingya Influx", conducted by the UNDP
Bangladesh said 26,000 hectares of forestland within the 10-kilometres radius
of the Rohingya camps would be destroyed in a year if the Rohingyas were not
provided with alternative fuel for cooking.
With the support of the government and
humanitarian partners, refugees have gained access to some basic services for
the huge Rohingya-refugees. They remain highly dependent on short-term aid, and
are living in precarious conditions, particularly in congested camps, where
living conditions are difficult and sometimes dangerous especially during
Bangladesh's long monsoon, cyclone seasons and from other exploitation maybe.
However, it has been noticed and paid
attention to Rohingya matters:
(i) Some 11 lakh Rohingyas are living at 33
camps
(ii) In Bangladesh camps, 200,000 Rohingya rally to mark Myanmar Genocide
Day
(iii) Though the administration didnot give them permission, some 50,000
Rohingya people gathered at the Madhuchhara Extension-4 Camp under Ukhiya
upazila.
(iv) Recently Nur Mohammed, a Rohingya leader, has celebrated his
daughter's ear piercing ceremony and guests brought a lot of gifts; all of the
gifts combined equaled 1 kg of gold, gift money worth Tk45 lakh.
(v) Rohingya
refugees were seen carrying a lot of sharp weapons during a recent rally in a
refugee camp area.
(vi) Rohingya criminals are the threat to both locals and
refugees
(vii) Rohingyas' five-point demand including ensuring of citizenship,
security and giving back of the ancestral lands
(viii) Some Rohingya refugees
shot dead by their inner conflict
(ix) Drug trafficking and sexual violence are
high among the Rohingya refugees residing in Bangladesh.
(x) Criminal groups of
Rohingyas developed unauthorised shop, drug trading spot, prostitution while
also got involved with human trafficking, abduction and robbery.
(xi) Rohingya
criminals shot a Juba League leader calling him out of his residence at Teknaf
upazila.
(xii) One Rohingya leader went to USA and came back his camp in
Bangladesh.
(xiii) Worry about HIV everyday as Rohingya women prostituted for
money in Bangladesh's overcrowded refugee camps
(xix) risk of refugee terrorism
in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Indian border
(xx) jeopardy of money laundering
(xxi) warning for global warming as they destroying of miles after miles
forest.
Above are the challenges that must be
addressed, and very rapidly. Most importantly, this is a crisis without a quick
fix that could take times to resolve unless there is a concerted effort to
address its root causes and solutions.
(Taslim Ahammad, Assistant Professor,
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj,
Bangladesh & T.A Research & Training Center)
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Don’t forget to read more below:
UN FFM Report: 600,000 Rohingya still in
Myanmar at 'serious risk of genocide': https://lnkd.in/grp4Gvg
Can China Able to Help Find a Durable
Solution for the Rohingya Refugees Crisis? https://lnkd.in/g6qy_qK